Four Dates and a Death
by howaboutheadingsouth
Summary: It's just an ordinary night off for most of the League. And what better way to spend it than dates? Four dates are occurring, despite evil geniuses, pesky ex-girlfriends and pre-wedding jitters. Who will die and who will eat cake at the wedding?


**A/N: Although this is a continuation of my previous story, The Last Time, you don't have to have read it to read this. Hope you enjoy it!**

Diana was a warrior first. And _then_ a woman.

She had spent the majority of her lifetime fighting, and the bits in-between were mainly rejoicing with her family. The realisation that they were not perfect had come later than it had to most; she had worshipped her mother nearly as fervently as she did the goddess so it felt like a betrayal of faith to discover she was slightly neglectful, and arrogant. Both were flaws that ran through her veins also. A tiny part of her subconscious blamed her mother for cursing her with these traits, but had her mother also not given her an incisive mind, and power? (plus beauty and glands that didn't produce sweat, as Shayera would say sarcastically).

The League was a lot closer now its numbers had been diminished by Luthor (who was thankfully in prison. And not just any prison either, a prison built specially by the League. Green Arrow had been for making it secure, solid and plain but Question had spectacularly expended the budget building bullet proof security cameras and built-in x-ray machines in the walls).

She recalled nothing of the Great Battle that had decimated the League. Bruce had cloned her; her as the original Wonder Woman locked away as a surprise weapon. However, as fate had it, she wasn't needed. Later when he had come to collect her he had explained everything and earned a punch on the shoulder for his arrogance. Then that night she had met him on a rooftop and they _held hands_. Shayera and she were now friends- not close ones, but still. And Black Canary had proved to be good company too: they were going to be bridesmaids for her wedding and so far they had tried on dresses and gone to a bar.

Not to mention she and Batman were _dating. _It felt weird in her mouth; it was such a mundane word. They were due to meet at a Parisian square to watch the fireworks at midnight. She was starting to think that Bruce had a thing about daylight. In all the times that she had seen him without his mask, it was always at night.

"Do you think Bruce has phengophobia?" she wondered out loud, and immediately felt shocked. A warriors best weapon is her thoughts, she had been told from birth.

"Fear of sunlight? Probably- he's not called Batman for nothing" said Shayera absentmindedly.

Zatanna pulled a hamster out of her top hat before disgustedly putting it back inside and rummaging around "Don't worry, I've never seen Bruce in daylight without his costume either" she said reassuringly. "Bingo!" she added as she pulled a tiny rabbit out of the depths of the hat.

"You'd better go" said Shayera dryly "Or you'll be rude late rather than fashionably late. You look…nice, by the way"

Diana was wearing an ice-blue silk dress with her trusty silver bracelets. She didn't like it; it restricted her legs so if she was attacked she couldn't move her feet more than half a foot apart to kick the perpetrator.

"Ciao" She hobbled less gracefully than she would have preferred onto the teleport pad. Shayera activated it and a white light enveloped Diana. In an instant, she was gone.

"Dinah, Helena and Lois have all got dates too and Aquaman's taking a sabbatical" said Zatanna forlornly "I guess that mean we're on Watchtower duty"

"We can have some fun. Do you know any card tricks?"

Delivering a decisive punch, Black Canary pushed the final member of the gang out of her way and ran to the small hill where Ollie had set out a picnic_. Damn_ those thugs, she had spent ages getting ready and was going to be on time until they showed up. She swore that they turned up just to mess with her plans.

"Sorry, another incident" she said breathlessly, crashing down on the chequered picnic blanket.

"It's fine, I'm just glad you're here" said Ollie "Olive?"

She took one out of the proffered box, and chewed it slowly.

"Any extra developments for our wedding, pretty bird?" Ollie asked. It was only two days away and surely something ought to have gone wrong; perhaps she should have returned into a coma, or the wedding shop had inserted mind-control chips into her headdress or even she might have had an argument with one of the bridesmaids _but nothing had happened_. Was she so used to destruction that she had completely forgotten what normal League life was like? It could be annoying, yes, but on the whole it was safe and consistent.

"My wedding dress arrived"

"What's it like?"

"It would be bad luck to describe it before the wedding" said Dinah mock-severely "But let's just say it was worth every penny"

"I look forward to seeing it"

"I look forward to the whole wedding. I win." said Dinah softly. She lay on her back and stared at the night sky; it was rapidly sprouting stars. At that moment, she felt a bolt of disbelief at her own good fortune; she was still alive after the war, she was marrying the man she loved and she had friends.

So when would it start to go wrong?

"You stood me UP?" Helena was yelling down the phone. A whole hour had passed where she had sat sipping water in the restaurant Vic had booked a table in months ago. She was Helena Bertinelli. She took things fast, ever since her parents were slowly killed in front of her, and subsequently didn't have a lot of patience for tardiness.

"I have a valid reason" Question insisted, levering the phone a few inches from his ear "Luthor's escaped from prison"

"And after all those expensive security machines" said Helena, wryly "I guess our date is cancelled, huh?"

"Sorry, Helena"

"So do you have any idea where Luthor has gone?" sighed Helena, about to become Huntress.

Lois idly stirred her cocktail. She loved places like this restaurant; full of atmosphere down to the last flickering shadow caused by the numerous candles "Thanks to you, my news story went down a storm" she informed Clark/Superman. She had to stop thinking of him like this- it was almost like she thought of his identities as a multiple personality disorder. Gradually, though, she was adjusting to having Superman as a real boyfriend. Lois, for all her brashness, had insecurities about the scheme; surely Superman would prefer someone in his league (ha ha) like the curvaceous Wonder Woman or Zatanna, a person who had powers that mimicked his.

"Good" said Superman "I hope you're ready to fight to the death over that promotion, though"

Lois laughed "No mercy, Smallville"

"Clark?" said a saccharine voice behind them. Lois rotated her head so fast she nearly cricked her neck. Clark merely smiled "Lana?"

Weaving through the crowd, Diana eventually found Bruce in civilian clothes near the edge. Sensing her presence, he turned around and offered her the tiniest of smiles. She found herself smiling back.

"Diana" he said cordially.

"Bruce"

It was their customary greeting. Neither parties were overly effusive, thus it suited them well.

"How long until the fireworks?" Diana asked.

"Five minutes" said Bruce without checking his watch. A slightly awkward silence encompassed them.

"I'm sorry" he said abruptly.

Batman actually apologised, without a trace of sarcasm. Call the presses! she thought sardonically although she suddenly felt very light-headed.

"What for?" she asked.

"Locking you up for the battle and sending a clone out" said Bruce "I just wanted to make sure we had another powerful weapon in case the League perished, which it almost did"

Diana was just about to reply when he added darkly "I'm like Luthor"

This was about the nearest she thought he'd ever come to admitting something he kept close to his heart. _No, you're not like Luthor_ she thought.

"You didn't clone me for destruction" she reminded him "You cloned me for salvation"

Shayera had told her sombrely that Batman had gone berserk when she died. And now that she knew only a clone of her had expired she couldn't resist adding "And maybe you had personal reasons for keeping me alive…"

"Maybe" he said, watching the sky.

Snakes could bite, squeeze you to death all the while you were wondering how it had crept up on you. Lex Luthor had always liked to think of himself as a snake. Even without money or prospects he was still sly enough to take the Justice League down from the inside. Right now he was waiting in the shadows of this filthy warehouse for a League member, coiled and ready to pounce.

"Q, baby?" said that vermin, Huntress. She stood in the moonlight entrails in the entrance of the building. With his razor-sharp memory, he could distinctly remember the time she had stolen high-security files with Question. But now he _was_ the Question.

"I'm here" Lex said, making his voice raspy like Question's. Slowly, he emerged from the shadows to confront her, his disguise as the Question impeccable. The snake was wrapping itself around her ankles…

"Why did you want to meet in this dingy old dump?" she demanded "Aren't you going to take me out to dinner someplace nice?"

"I will in a minute, sweetie. Just come here and see something" Lex beckoned towards a space between two barrels where a tripwire was installed, and an interconnecting machine gun.

"What is it, Q?" Huntress asked, gingerly stepping around the muddy puddles in her high-heeled boots to the other side of the warehouse.

"Something interesting" _Something very interesting indeed,_ he thought.

"Okay" She jumped closer to the tripwire. The snake had nearly killed its prey when-

"Luthor, you can take off your disguise" she said loudly, the crossbow pointed at his head, her feet only a step away from the tripwire.

Like a bad mystery film, he could only ask confusedly "How did you know it was me?"

"Vic NEVER calls me sweetie" said Helena matter-of-factly. Darting towards him, she seized his lapels and in a flash of white light they were on the teleport pad at the Watchtower.

"Shayera and Zatanna will take care of you" Huntress said tartly, dumping him on a bench "I have a date. A _real_ date, that is"

"How come we get stuck with the criminals?" complained Zatanna, laying down her cards.

"Duty" said Shayera in a perfect imitation of Superman and they laughed. Luthor buried his head in his hands.

They would find Luthor's that way later; apparently his heart had just stopped. A full funeral would be scheduled, courtesy of the League. It was almost like he had just lost the will to live, said the doctor.

"You remember me!" squealed the buxom, red haired fashion designer.

"You were my first love, Lana" Clark cajoled and they both laughed _like the little fools they were_, thought Lois angrily. She squirmed in her expensive evening dress as they swapped anecdotes and numbers.

"Oh, and you've met Lois" Clark finally recalled her presence. Noting his deficit of 'the woman who's carrying my child' or even 'my date' in his introduction of her, she elevated an eyebrow.

"A pleasure as always" she said glacially to Lana.

Lana merely smiled sweetly.

After dinner, Lois stormed out of the restaurant, leaving the huge bill with the love birds. She'd go home and write another Pulitzer-winning article just to show she had a brain as well as a body, unlike some people…

"Lois?" The familiar voice behind her, accompanied with the hand that shot out to grab her wrist made her feel shaky.

"This isn't going to work" she said without turning around.

"What isn't?"

"This" She waved a hand at Clark and herself "If you're going to lie to me for years then forget about me every time someone who may even slightly fit the definition of 'attractive' shows up then I don't want to be around you"

"How can you say that?" Superman demanded "You're carrying my child, Lois. That means something to me"

"And I don't?"

They stood on the street-lit pavement for a moment, surveying each other silently. Then Superman gathered her up and shot into the skies.

"Put me down!" She struggled and squirmed against his grip, although secretly she was enjoying the sensation of flying, like she always had done.

"You see that city?" said Superman, gesturing to Metropolis which gleamed in the night skies, as luminous as a polished jewel.

"Yes" she returned levelly.

"There is not one single person there who means more to me than you do"

Without waiting for a reply, he zoomed a lap of the world. She gasped for breath, burying deep into his chest and feeling an odd combination of resent and forgiveness.

"Not one single person on this planet does" he said softly.

"You should have told me Lana was an alien" said Lois sarcastically, with more tenderness than before. Superman detected this and laughed. They stayed up there for a long time, just laughing.

Bruce and Diana were kissing hungrily when they descended. Huntress and Question, plus Black Canary and Green Arrow found them also.

Half-annoyed, half-pleased, the couple broke apart and saw them standing around.

"What are you-" Diana began, as she and Bruce stood up.

"Weren't you going to see the fireworks?" said Green Arrow innocently. As if on cue, fireworks stained the sky with glitter, exploding overhead with spectrums of colour. They all stood together, not heroes for once, but bound to the crowds with the same appreciation of the display.

Dinah and Ollie's wedding started as a nightmare. (In the dressing room: "Where's my bouquet?" fretted Dinah. "How could you lose a bouquet that size?" returned Helena.

Behind the altar: "Just breathe" said Bruce. "And get her name right at the altar" added Clark. "Thanks, guys" said Ollie sarcastically)

As they walked down the aisle, Diana smiled mischievously at Bruce "Last night we didn't get all our business completed" she whispered.

"So we didn't"

Diana knew, just from the way he said it that they would be good as a couple from here on in. Being an Amazonian princess and a rich kid with issues, they may take it slow. But she knew from the masked tenderness behind his deep, gruff voice that she would walk down this aisle in a full wedding dress someday.

Shayera and Zatanna smiled at each other- they were now good friends. Lois waved at Superman. Helena blew a kiss to Vic.

Then Dinah emerged; resplendent in flowers and glowing with beauty and, well, joy. The aura didn't fade throughout the vows and only grew when she and Ollie kissed to seal the deal.

"I'm married" she said in bemused bliss later. She and Helena were standing outside the bathroom, and she was twisting the exquisite ring around her finger.

"You sucker" said Helena affectionately, knowing full well that there was an engagement ring in Vic's pocket right now.

"Come on ladies" said Diana, coming out of the bathroom, slightly giddy with delight herself "Let's go dance!"

She did love to dance. She had known all along that in life, you couldn't have all of what you wanted, but as Bruce took her hand and she felt the familiar tingle, she finally realised she didn't need it.

Long live life.

Long live love.

Long live the League.

THE END


End file.
